Congratulations! You just bought a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution for your company. In no time, you’ll have all your contracts organized, your pre-signature process revolutionized, and you’ll be hailed as the champion of all things legal at your company. Right?
Well, eventually… odds are you're sitting there feeling good about your purchase, though maybe a little anxious, wondering how you’ll get this new tool set up and what’s next. Fortunately, you’re not alone. The LinkSquares Customer Success team is here to help you get everything up and running.
Before you even get started with using your shiny new CLM, there are a few things you need to consider. Some of these will be very straightforward and easy for your organization to tackle, while others may be a bit more of a challenge.
One of the first things you’ll need to figure out is what’s going on in your current contract process. Whether you’re a large, industry-leading company, or a new start-up, there’s one thing every company has in common: Your company runs on your contracts and agreements, and you need to know where they live.
In your current situation, do they reside in a shared drive with a strong folder structure or in your procurement system? Do they live in individual inboxes or in your e-signature tool? Are you unsure where they are, and if so, do you know who is? No matter where they reside, you’ll need to pull them together to import them into your new CLM. Having an understanding of your current storage process will help you identify how much work needs to be done to prepare your initial upload.
Related to this, it’s important to know what types of documents you are looking to track in your CLM and who owns them. Should you be inviting sales or marketing to store their agreements as well? Do Employment or Equity Agreements need to be managed? Your CLM is designed to manage several types of agreements (LinkSquares has 26 Smart Types we automatically organize by!), so it’s important to consider the various legal agreements your company uses beyond just sales or vendor contracts.
Another important factor to consider is reporting. What reports do you run, and how often do you run them? Are you running quarterly sales reports to track revenue? Do you run monthly reports to track autorenewals in your vendor agreements? Do you get asked to run a report for someone (who could run the report themself if they were enabled to do so)? Thinking about the reports that you and others need to do will allow your onboarding team to help create these out of the gate, so you can quickly get value from your new purchase.
Finally, take some time to revisit your current processes. What do you like about what you’re doing now (if anything)? If you have a request workflow that works, let your Customer Success Manager (CSM) and Implementation Manager know, so they can work to replicate it on the platform.
By letting them know, they can help cut disruption and confusion in the new process. It’s easier to get users onboard when you say “the process will stay the same; we just have a new interface we’re using” compared to “we’re rebuilding the process from the ground up!” Of course, if your process isn’t working, it can be rebuilt. After all, you are using a new tool, and now’s a great time to make changes.
It’s a lot to think about, and now your head may be spinning. Remember, your CSM and Implementation Manager are here to help you navigate through the process of setting your CLM up, so if you don’t have answers to these points today, it’s ok! Over the next few weeks, your onboarding team will help you answer these questions, as well as any others that come up. And if you have questions, be sure to ask them. Your CSM and Implementation Manager will be happy to answer.
At this stage, you’ve taken the first step in getting your agreements in order, and that’s a huge achievement! Before you know it, you’ll have everything set up, running smoothly, and be able to tackle whatever contract request the company throws at you. So for now, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the knowledge that you made the right decision as you start thinking about the above elements.
Not a customer, but want in on this journey? Schedule a demo today!